This invention relates to apparatus for use in a blood collection system and relates particularly to certain items useful in a mobile blood collection system adapted for compact storage during transportation from one site to another.
With a mobile blood collection system it is common practice to provide a truck or the like adapted to carry a multiplicity of patient lounges, nurse's chairs and other paraphernalia, all of which must be compactly stored for movement between locations. On site, the lounges are ordinarily arranged so that a single nurse is capable of treating a number of patients simultaneously. Considering the differences in human factors and body mechanics it is important that the individual items in the system, in addition to being adapted for compact storage during transporation, be universal in application to donors of different anatomical proportions. Thus, common equipment must be useful for male and/or female donors of all sizes, shapes and weights. Moreover, such equipment must be readily adaptable for drawing blood from the left or right arm of a patient depending upon the nurse's professional judgement at the time of venipuncture.
In the use of equipment of this type, a variety of requirements must be met. Obviously, the patient or donor must be supported in a comfortable manner for a period of time sufficient to permit the withdrawal of a pint of blood. Although it has been common practice to take blood while the donor's body is in a relatively flat, supine position, under certain circumstances it is desirable to be able to raise the torso and head of the donor, and under other conditions, raising of the donor's legs is necessary. Therefore, a donor lounge should preferably be easily adjusted to any of the foregoing relationships.
Moreover, it is important that the donor's arm be comfortably supported in a position which provides easy access to the nurse while the blood is being withdrawn. In view of the anatomical differences between individual patients, it is necessary that the position of the armrest be extremely easily adjustable in relationship to the donor lounge itself.
Additionally, during blood collection certain documents must be prepared by the nurse and it is important that these documents be easily related to a particular donor for obvious reasons.
Finally, a variety of items must be supported in the immediate location of the donor during the blood collection. For example, the plastic bag receiving the blood must be positioned in a location in which it is visable to the nurse, but preferably out of sight of the donor. Additionally, various tools or other items of equipment such as hemostats, stripping and sealing tools and the like should all be readily available to the nurse. Ordinarily, it is highly desirable that a roll of tape be available for securing a cotton ball or gauze pad over the needle during blood withdrawal.
Thus, it can be seen that it is important to provide an integrated assemblage of elements for use in a blood collection system, particularly a mobile blood collection system. It is, therefore, a primary object of this invention to provide elements of this nature.
A further object of this invention is the provision of a combined armrest/writing/worksurface which is supportable on a donor lounge in a manner that enables great versatility and adjustability in use to accommodate donors of different anatomical proportions.
Another object of this invention is the provision of a mobile lounge for use in combination with an apparatus of the type just described wherein the lounge is symmetrical about a longitudinally extending central axis and, likewise, symmetrical about a transversely extending central axis so that the lounge can be set in any desired location, and used from either side for collecting blood from either arm of a donor.
Still a further object of this invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive unit which is easy to manufacture and maintain and which performs a variety of functions including support of a donor's arm during blood collection with substantially universal adjustment of the position of the arm, means for supporting documents associated with the blood collection in a convenient manner enabling a nurse to enter information on such documents, and a worksurface adapted to support the blood bag and other paraphernalia, including a roll of surgical tape or the like, during the blood collection process.